Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Excited for fall turkey hunting?

The name rings a bell, but only that. We have a lot of sporting dog breeders in eastern Va. People use dogs to hunt everything, here. Hound hunting for deer is a tradition in eastern Va. Lots of hound breeders and trainers here, along with waterfowl and upland bird dog breeders.

I don't have a problem using a dog to hunt turkeys. None whatsoever. To each his own. I do sometimes hate the deer hound hunters who run their dogs across public and private property, and who shoot whatever their dogs chase out of the woods, whether its a buck or an illegal doe, fawn, fox or whatever.

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With all due repect, sir, please don't put those two names in the same sentence. They are two individuals that could not be further apart in human qualities.

Marlin Watkins is one of the kindest, most sincerely decent individuals one could ever meet. His name should NEVER be defiled by using it in the same sentence as..........you know..........

And then they're are scum bags like Donnie....

Only thing GlockheAd is familiar with is showing the world how stupid he is.....he has no business commenting about turkey hunting.

By his own admission the only turkeys he's ever shot he shot while he was deer hunting in the fall.

It was not my intent nor do I believe I defiled either man’s name by mentioning Frank and Marlin in the same sentence. My point is hunting with a turkey dog has a legacy and tradition enjoyed by contemporary hunters and those are two well recognized names that come to mind. For what it’s worth I’ve hunted and dealt with both men over the years. Both have treated me well so I’ve only got good things to say about both.

I NEVER said the only turkeys I shot were in the fall while deer hunting, you dolt. I said I shot more turkeys in the fall while deer hunting than in the spring. Yet another lie on your part. You are just dishonest to the core, aren't you, CFL?

Post your hunting video....anyone thar watches it will know you are nuttz

Everyone knows you're nuts. And full of [bleep].

Tell us, was it true what was written on Old Gobbler? That you were on disability but still selling your calls and asking people to send the payments to your wife? Why would people who bought your calls say you asked them to make their checks payable to your wife?

You want another chance with me....then tell me who is feeding you the lies about me.

What is it that I wrote that suggest to you "I want another chance with you?" God, you're screwed up.

It's the bipolar side of you that suggests it....

Bing fuggin' go. Saved for posterity. Hate and jealousy. No one has treated you the way you've treated them. And now we know why. Thanks for admitting it. May be the first time you've been honest since you've been on this site. You are driven by hate and jealousy.

Now that you admitted it, that's the first step to getting over it.

Thanks.

Who am I jealous of ?

You sure screwed up this thread.

Explains everything.

Here is my line of thinking, with some changes, but I am a little more pedestrian with my weapons.

Would someone please explain the dog method of turkey hunting. Had never heard of it.

The Black Hills are pretty thick terrain. The prairie not so much.

BTW Grew up shooting lots or pheasants, ducks, geese, and grouse without a dog. Allergic to dogs, so have not owned one. Have hunted with a few, but am more a big game guy myself.

I have a friend that brings his dog turkey hunting with us every spring, but just to come along. Does not actively "hunt" the
turkeys.

The short course on it is that it's much like hunting with any other flushing dog.......say, for pheasant..........except it's for turkeys. The dogs generally quarter fast and fairly far out. Most bark during the flush. And rather than shooting off the flush........which can occur totally out of sight of the hunter........the dog returns to the hunter and lays totally still and quiet beside him (maybe backed into a camo sack with just his head sticking out or maybe just low on the ground) as the calling starts. A lot of turkey dogs will locate downed birds and some, even retrieve.

The dogs can be about anything if you train them right. But the Appalachian Turkey Dog (somebody previously mentioned the late John Byrne of Virginia) is a specially bred line.......a mix of a Plott hound, setter and pointer.

I'm no authority on it. But I know some.

LFC could probably fill in the blanks I missed.

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Would someone please explain the dog method of turkey hunting. Had never heard of it.

The Black Hills are pretty thick terrain. The prairie not so much.
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If you grew up hunting pheasants and grouse without a dog then you know how much walking and blindly kicking the bushes is involved in hopes of getting the occasional bird to flush. Searching for a roaming flock of turkeys in the woods can be just as challenging but using a dogs nose and ability to cover ground greatly improves your chances to state the obvious. A dogs speed and barking also improve the chances of scattering the flock in as many directions as possible. The birds from a scattered flock are typically very vocal and eager to reassemble which makes it easier to call them back to the area from which they were flushed. A person trying to flush a flock of turkeys more often than not only succeeds in pushing the flock in one direction away from the approaching hunter where they quickly reassemble and the odds of calling either larger groups or the entire flock back toward you is much slimmer than a lone “lost” bird. In the thick Black Hills terrain you mentioned, a dog would work well. In the open prairie not so much if the turkeys can see the dog approaching from a distance since they’re going to all take off together in the opposite direction like I mentioned above.

If you have a dog that likes to range quite a distance or you hunt in areas where your line of sight is limited it helps to have a GPS tracking collar on the dog. When you hear the dog barking on the flush you can mark the spot to know where you need to go set up and call.

That’s the basic gist of it along with what Yoder said. LFC definitely has far more knowledge and experience on this topic than I do so I welcome any corrections he may have if if I misspoke about anything.

In the Hills I hunt known turkey areas and call as I go. Not spring time hen yelping, but flock turkey talk. Have been successful getting turkeys to respond. Then the hunt is on!

Sometimes the flock is already heading my direction. Then it is fairly easy to get them to come check me out.

Sometimes I have to make adjustments to get in proper position. Sometimes it is simply a stalk/sneak that ends up with an opportunity.

Sometimes a deer would get in the way, and an archery deer hunt would ensue. Sometimes a ruffed grouse would be spotted and added to the pot.

Our fall Black Hills turkey season has really been limited the past few years for a multitude of reasons. Have not had a tag for quite a few years.

So I am limited to our fall prairie season on our property, but would much rather be hunting in the Black Hills.

Why won't you shoot a gobbler in the fall but would in the Spring?

A gobbler is in his prime in the spring.....turkeys killed in the fall that are feeding heavily on acorns will have darker stronger tasting meat.